Faith #3: The Last Days

Making the top 3 on my top 10 list of reasons for faith in Jesus is the collection of prophecies in the Bible  regarding the Last Days.

These eschatological prophecies cannot be understood without a broad understanding of the Gospel of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven. This messianic kingdom is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy to establish the anointed descendant of David as ruler of an everlasting kingdom.

The establishment of the eternal kingdom of our Lord necessarily fulfilled and concluded the animal sacrifice and ritual ceremonies of the Old Testament. Jesus our Lord is the final Messiah in the lineage of King David and His kingdom is built on His righteousness and the faith He has given us.

Once I understood this I was able to see that many of the end-times prophecies in the Bible refer both to the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century, and the establishment of the eternal kingdom of Messiah. What the prophets and scholars (and even the disciples of Jesus) did not understand is that this coming kingdom would be invisible to human flesh, ruling hearts and minds rather than armies and nations. Of course a righteous eternal kingdom could never be established using earthly power to rule sinful mankind. This is obvious to us now, having the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit to guide us.

We are living in the last days. Today Christ the Messiah reigns at the right hand of God in the midst of His enemies. There is a coming day of wrath when Christ will return with the host of heaven to remove His enemies from creation and give eternal peace and joy to the people of God.

This mystery that is buried deep in ancient Jewish prophecies is unique in the religions of this world. It was intentionally hidden by God, to be revealed by the Holy Spirit after Jesus was seated at the right hand of God. This revelation is a constant source of life-giving faith for me. We do not wait for an earthly kingdom; Jesus the Messiah is now and always the Lord of all creation. That is the gospel of the kingdom and the hope of glory that is promised to all who believe.